RUNNING: Due to course error, The Woodlands Marathon runners not eligible for Boston

Updated 6:34 pm, Thursday, March 9, 2017

Runners warm up before taking part in The Woodlands Marathon Saturday, March 4, 2017, in The Woodlands.

Runners warm up before taking part in The Woodlands Marathon Saturday, March 4, 2017, in The Woodlands.

Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer

RUNNING: Due to course error, The Woodlands Marathon runners not eligible for Boston

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In a letter sent to 2017 The Woodlands Marathon participants and obtained by The Courier Thursday afternoon, runners were notified that they will not be eligible for the 2018 Boston Marathon following an error that cut the race short by 0.8 miles.

Thursday's letter follows Sunday's press release by The Woodlands Marathon Management which informed runners that during the Saturday's race, the a lead cyclist inadvertently skipped the second turn of the course.

For 24-year-old Ulysses Montoya, on race day, it was clear early on that something had gone wrong.

"From mile one, there was confusion," Montoya said. "For a good while, I was trying to figure out whether my watch was off or if the banners were off. I just figured maybe the banners would work themselves out and were just misplaced for the first few miles. As I got into the later miles and my watch was still beeping off the markers, it was clear that the distance was going to be short."

It was Montoya's first attempt at a marathon and with a finishing time of 2:37:03 he was the fourth overall finisher and would have easily qualified for the 2018 Boston Marathon.

"I was only planning on running one marathon a year and I wanted Boston to be next year's," Montoya said. "Now it looks like I'll have to run another one to qualify for next year's (Boston Marathon)."

As many of the runners feared, TWMM was unsuccessful in getting the Boston Athletic Association to accept adjusted times for qualification for the 2018 Boston Marathon.

Fowlkes also said that those that used The Woodlands Marathon to qualify for the Boston Marathon, would have their finish time evaluated based on the BAA criteria and will be offered a discount.

He asked that runners send an email with the subject line reading, "Boston Qualifier – Evaluation" to admin@thewoodlandsmarathon.com.

Only runners that would have qualified based on TWMM's calculated overall pace will be considered for the discount and have until May 1, 2017 to request their time be evaluated.

Those still hoping to compete in the 2018 Boston Marathon will have to qualify at another event.

"We know you have been patiently awaiting an announcement," Fowlkes said in the letter. "And we hope the information we provided allows any time needed to meet their qualification standard at another event in the near future."

Montoya has already picked out his next race — the Houston native, said he is looking at the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon in June as his next chance at qualifying for Boston.

"The only unfortunate thing about that is that I am going to have to take a trip to actually get that one in," Montoya said. "I was glad that I was able to Run The Woodlands Marathon from home, basically."

Despite the disappointment, Montoya is taking everything in stride wants to encourage his fellow runners to rise above this setback.

"Things like this happen and they really test your willingness to succeed at your goals," he said. "Having been a runner for more than half of my life, I want to encourage all those runners that missed it, those people that had been training specifically for this, or if it's one of those things they want to cross off their bucket list, just hang in there."